


Mistletoe

by laurapxlmer



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: AU, Best Friends, Christmas, Decorating, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-10
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-04 06:29:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1077701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurapxlmer/pseuds/laurapxlmer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis and Harry are idiots. They decorate for Christmas.</p><p>~rewritten december 2015~</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe

Louis is in love with Harry, and Harry is in love with Louis. It should be simple as that, but it really isn’t.

 

Harry’s been in love with Louis since they met, which is pretty bad, because it’s been a solid decade since Gemma brought home her new friend from school. Louis was so loud, quite possibly the most annoying thirteen-year-old anyone had ever met, but Harry was enraptured by him from the word go.

 

Louis can’t pinpoint when he started having feelings for his best friend’s kid brother, but he can pinpoint when Harry wasn’t just Gemma’s kid brother anymore. It was the summer after Harry turned seventeen; his body had lost most of its baby fat, he’d started going to the gym, he’d grown his hair out a bit, he lost the awful baggy pants. Louis had always had a soft spot for Harry Styles, ask anyone, but the cute younger boy became… absolutely gorgeous that summer. And Louis was gone.

 

Everyone had tried their hand at getting the two together over the last several years. Niall had gotten them drunk, Liam had heart-to-hearts, Zayn got them high, Gemma threatened them. Louis’s friends had set him up on dates to make Harry jealous; Harry’s did the same.

 

Niall’s attempts ended with horrible hangovers and no love confessions. Liam got through to each of them separately on several occasions, but every time he mentioned bringing them together for a deep chat, one or both were busy working or studying or babysitting. Harry just giggles when he’s high, and Louis isn’t much better; even Zayn’s attempt at getting them to shotgun failed because of their laughter. Gemma’s threats meant nothing to either boy after so many years of hearing them; some of the dates ended in two-month relationships or one-night flings.

 

But neither broke, no matter what. Harry’s excuse is that Louis can’t keep secrets for shit – neither of them can, really, not from each other – and would’ve told him by now if he felt anything. Louis doesn’t want to lose his best friend.

 

It’s getting a bit old, in Liam’s opinion. Louis is almost twenty-four, Harry almost twenty-two, it’s been ten years, and they need to do something about this.

 

“Lads, we’ve got to do something about this.” He sits down on the arm of the couch in their shared house in Manchester. Niall is playing Fifa beside him, feet propped up on the table, and Zayn is on his phone. Liam removes Niall’s feet from the table, only for them to be moved right back up.

 

“What are we talking about?” Zayn asks.

 

“Lou and Harry, right?”

 

“Yeah.” Liam sighs when he sees the clock, little hand almost on the four. “Look, we have to make a plan, Louis will be home from work in a few minutes.”

 

Niall pauses his game. “A plan. Sounds interesting. What should we do, boss?”

 

“Gemma said we should use the holiday, since it’s both their favorite,” Liam reports, looking down at his phone. “She said H always complains when he’s single for Christmas because there’s so much love in the air and he wants someone to share it with.”

 

“He likes ice skating and baking, too, wants a boyfriend to do it with,” Zayn adds. “He’s bitched to me about it enough.”

 

“We can put up mistletoe!” Niall exclaims. “Trick them under it at the same time. Did that with me friends back home once, worked like a charm.”

 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “This isn’t middle school, Niall.”

 

“No, it could work,” Liam says suddenly. “Look, we’re supposed to decorate Saturday, right? Anything Christmas will put Harry in a romantic mood, and the three of us can all disappear for a few hours after we get the tree out.”

 

“Let them do it themselves? We’re trusting Harry and Louis?” Niall asks.

 

“It could work,” Zayn says with a shrug. “It’s as good as anything we’ve done.”

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe they fucking bailed on us,” Louis grumps as he wraps small yellow lights around the ten-foot Christmas tree. He’s too damn small for this. “H! Come help!”

 

“Just a second!” his best friend’s voice yells from the kitchen over Jingle Bell Rock.

 

The smell of gingerbread fills Louis’s nose and he smiles. Harry picked Louis’s favorite Christmas cookie to bake first, knowing it would make Louis happy and make the entire house smell of Christmas.

 

“Alright, what do you need?”

 

“Someone bought a giant ass tree last year and I can’t get the lights around it by meself.” Louis is holding a strand of lights in place with both of his hands and can’t really move, so Harry steps around the back and starts wrapping where Louis left off.

 

“We’re finally out of that shoebox apartment, Lou, we needed a real tree,” Harry reminds Louis for the twelfth time today.

 

“At least the boys were here to help get it out of the attic. Arseholes, the lot of them, leaving us on decorating day.” Louis is able to move his hands now, and wraps the next level of lights before handing it back off to Harry.

 

“Niall had a date with a girl he’s been pining over for months, Zayn’s sister called and needed him to babysit, and Sophia wanted a necklace that Liam can get on sale today only,” Harry reminds Louis, handing the lights back.

 

Louis grumbles a few minutes more, about how rude it was, but gives up when Harry just hums in response. They finish the lights singing along to Harry’s Christmas Pandora station, Louis having to drag a chair over to do the top bit by himself once it got small enough. He let Harry do the bow on top though, something he’d found on Pinterest last year no doubt. It’s a big red floppy bow tied a few inches from the very to with ribbons coming down in all directions, tucked around the tree like garland.

 

They put up their random collection of ornaments. Ones everyone’s mums have gotten them, ones they bought themselves last year when the tree and house was new, ones Louis’s third grade class has made him in the years he’s been a teacher or teacher’s aid. They’re done in impressive time for only two people instead of five.

 

Once they’ve finished, Harry asks, “What next? Mantle or cookies?”

 

Louis groans. “There’s more stuff to put out?”

 

“The same amount of stuff as last year.”

 

Louis threatens Liam, Niall, and Zayn a few more times while Harry goes and puts some sugar cookies in the oven. They put out the mantle decoration, and Louis let Harry hang the wreath above it. He’ll deny it, but it’s nice to sit back on the arm of the couch and admire his best friend. Who needs to decorate in jeans that tight?

 

“Is it straight, Lou?”

 

“It’s a circle, babe,” Louis replies with a smirk. Harry flips him off before setting out fancy candles. “Can we decorate cookies now? Please?”

 

Harry’s face lights up, because it’s his favorite part of Christmas – what isn’t Harry’s favorite part of Christmas? – to decorate cookies. It falls a bit quickly. “Shouldn’t we wait for the others?”

 

“Fuck no, they left us,” Louis says. “C’mon, I want spiked eggnog too.” He grabs Harry’s hand and all but drags him to the dining room, where the cookies, icing, and candies are waiting. Harry doesn’t put up much of a fight.

 

“I was going to add peppermint schnapps to our hot chocolate, actually,” Harry says conversationally, stopping to lean on the doorframe of the dining room entrance. “I also bought us a gingerbread village—Lou?”

 

Louis’s stopped listening, because he’s still holding Harry’s hand, and right there above Harry’s head is a bunch of mistletoe, green and red ribbon tied above it, and a sign that says ‘kiss me’ on it. Maybe he can --

 

Harry turns to see what Louis is looking at, and lets out a nervous laugh. “O-oh. One of the boys must have put that there as a joke or something.”

 

 

“Ha, yeah, probably Zayn. Or Niall.” Louis pauses and drops Harry’s hand quickly once he realizes he’s still holding it. “I, um. I’m not feeling too well, actually, H. I think I’m gunna go lay down for a bit.”

 

“Oh, okay,” Harry says in a disappointed voice. Louis’s being a selfish and shitty best friend; he knows how much Harry loves decorating cookies together.

 

“Maybe we should wait for the other boys to decorate cookies?” Louis offers, and barely hears Harry’s response before booking it up the stairs.

 

He hears Harry’s footsteps, slower than his own, following him up the stairs, but by the time Harry’s in his room, Louis is under the covers trying not to have a breakdown.

 

“Lou.” Harry’s voice is quiet, soft, and Louis can hear the rejection in his voice. He sits down on Louis’s bed and prods at his calves. “Louis, what’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing, H,” Louis lies, and it’s such an obvious lie. They live in each other’s pockets, nearly, and they’ve been best friends for ten years. Louis knows that Harry knows he’s lying. “It’s fine.”

 

Harry sighs. “Stop lying, Lou. Just tell me.”

 

“Haz, drop it,” Louis demands, but he’s on the verge of tears and it sounds like a plea.

 

“If you didn’t want to kiss me, you could have just said so, Lou. I know you went on that date with the music teacher at school last week, if you’re serious about her—“ Harry stops himself. “Or you could’ve just kissed me on the cheek or—“

 

“Shut up,” Louis whispers. “Stop talking.” He takes in a deep breath. _Here goes nothing_. “It’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you, Haz.”

 

“Then why’d you fake being sick?”

 

Louis doesn’t answer immediately, but when he does, Harry almost doesn’t hear him. “Didn’t want you not to want to kiss me.”

 

That’s when Harry starts laughing. Like, really laughing. The bed is shaking from it.

 

Louis throws the blanket off of his head, ready to kick Harry out after a nice round of screaming at him, but the look on Harry’s face stops him. Louis’s quite a bit of an expert on Harry’s facial expressions after knowing him for ten years, and he knows when Harry is laughing out of malice or out of joy. “And what the fuck is so funny?” Louis asks.

 

Harry doesn’t respond, just leans over to Louis, grabs the back of his neck, and pulls him in until their lips meet.

 

Harry’s always been the sweetest person Louis’s ever known, but he shouldn’t _taste_ so fucking sweet. He probably snuck some cookie dough.

 

Harry’s big, soft lips push against Louis’s thinner, chapped ones. Harry pulls away almost as quickly as he kissed Louis, but Louis pulls him in again. That makes Harry smile, and he backs up, saying, “I need to tell you something.”

 

“It can wait,” Louis muttered against Harry’s lips. “Kiss me, H.” Harry pecks Louis’s lips again, but pulls back a third time. “I’m starting to get insulted,” Louis tells him.

 

But Harry smiles probably the brightest smile Louis’s ever seen and pushes his long hair out of his face. “No reason to, I just want to tell you something.”

 

“Swear to god, H, if you say you’re straight and you’ve actually lied to me since you were sixteen—“

 

“What?” Harry lets out one of his loud, barking laughs. “No. Fuck no, I’m gayer than ever after that, I think.” That makes Louis smile, and he’s about to say something, but Harry says, “Please, let me say this. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the balls to again.” Harry takes a deep breath. “I love you, Lou.”

 

“What.”

 

Harry giggles at Louis’s dumbfounded expression. “Yeah. Since forever, probably.”

 

Louis smiles so big it goes up to his eyes. He starts nodding and doesn’t know what to say. “Yeah.” _Yeah?_

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Like, yeah, I understand. I’ve loved you since I was eighteen or nineteen probabl—whoa!”

 

Harry tackles Louis back on the bed and kisses him all over his face. “I love you, I love you,” he says between kisses.

 

Louis’s giggling. “H, stop. Stop! Harry!” Harry pulls back and looks down at him. Louis pulls Harry into a soft kiss for a moment. When they pull apart, Louis says, “Remind me to thank the boys for being out of the house today.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is adored // tumblr is hfflpffhoe :) 
> 
> if you wanna reblog this, the tumblr post is http://hfflpffhoe.tumblr.com/post/134806663319/mistletoe-by-lpalms15-louis-and-harry-are-idiots ((i still don't know how to link lol i'm 20 years old this is rough)


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